CHRISTOPHER FERGUSON // BACHELOR OF ARCHITECTURE 2013 THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN CHRISTOPHERFERGUSON.US C.RICE.FERGUSON@GMAIL.COM +1 972 816 1993
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resume + work history cover letter work samples model-making photography
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Christopher Ferguson 1302 W. 24th St. #208 Austin, Texas 78705 +1 972 816 1993 c.rice.ferguson@gmail.com christopherferguson.us
Education
Honors
The University of Texas at Austin Bachelor of Architecture // May 2013 GPA - 3.8
Inductee, Tau Sigma Delta Honors Society, Mu Chapter Fall 2012 Featured Speaker, White House Young America Series Spring 2012
Work Residency Intern // Andersson-Wise Architects May 2012 - December 2012 Austin, Texas Media Curator // Energy Inside, Inc. April 2010 - June 2011 Austin, Texas
Nominee, Design Excellence Award December 2010 Winner, Design Excellence Award May 2010
Server // Campisi’s Italian Restaurant June 2007 - August 2009 Dallas, Texas
Winner, C.R. Smith Endowed Scholarship Fall 2008
Exhibit Participation // Print Inclusion
Leadership
Capturing Light and Time University of Texas Visual Resources Collection Spring 2011
Design Assistant // Design II Studio Instructor Michael Hargens // UT School of Architecture Spring 2013
ISSUE 007 (ISBN 978-0-9786228-6-2) Univerisity of Texas at Austin School of Architecture Spring 2011
Mentor // UASC SOA Mentorship Program 2009 - Present
Design Excellence Showcase University of Texas Goldsmith Mebane Gallery Spring 2011
Additional Skills Photography // Canon EOS450D Software // Adobe Suite, Autocad, Rhinoceros, Sketchup, Revit, GIS, IDX/Vray, MS Office Model Making // Casting, laser cutting, 3D printing Freelance writing, online PR management, copy editing 03
Nominee, Unrestricted Endowed Presidential Scholarship Spring 2012
President, Vice President American Institute of Architecture Students (UT AIAS) 2010 - 2011, 2008 - 2010 Undergraduate Representative Student and Faculty Awards Committee 2009 - 2010
Hello! My name is Christopher Ferguson and for the past five years I have been a student of architecture at the University of Texas at Austin. Through my education I have learned to appreciate design at many scales, and my studios have afforded me travel throughout much of Europe and parts of South America. Seeing the world as a student has taught me that there is a lot more to learn. I am a lover of design, but foremost I am a problem solver. I am passionate about simplifying a task and attacking it directly, and then communicating the lessons learned to those who will listen. You have recieved this portfolio of my student and professional work samples because I would love the opportunity to learn from you, in any capacity. I am focused, organized, collaborative, and sometimes even make jokes. I’d love a chance to speak further! Thank you for your consideration, Christopher Ferguson
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WORK SAMPLES // MODEL MAKING // PHOTOGRAPHY The University of Texas at Austin Bachelor of Architecture ‘13
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Pampulha Hotel + Conference Center - Spring 2012 Belo Horizonte, Brazil Pampulha is a man-made lake outside of Belo Horizonte, Brazil that is renowned for thoughtful Niemeyer buildings scattered along its perimeter. The expansive flatness and scenic beauty is cherished by locals who must navigate a sprawling urban metropolis fraught with congestion, gentrification, and sometimes decay. The studio’s task was to confront these challenges by introducing a cultural hub that served locals and visitors alike, while also addressing problems of congestion and water quality degradation at an urban scale.
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WORK SAMPLES // MODEL MAKING // PHOTOGRAPHY
The resulting scheme is a programmatic collage meant to reference the successful sculptural qualities of modern Brazilian landscape architecture. The mild climate offers an opportunity for an ultimate connection to the outdoors, and pavilion-like structures peek out from a sunken plaza, providing framed views of the lake. Each element is strung together by a winding pathway that allows visitors to maintain a sense of exploration and discovery without straying too far from their intended course. A one kilometer pedestrian and cycling bridge connects two sides of the lake to fight congestion along its perimeter paths, while small mini-islands suggest space for public programs that could help reintroduce economic diversity to the area.
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Exceptional moments occur by introducing varying elevations.
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Sprawling plazas are connected by water and vegetation. The entrance to the courtyard serves as a junction between hotel and public space. In the rendering above, individual hotel cells are located immediately ahead and to the right, while a water cistern flanks the left side of the frame. This is an intersection of park level, courtyard, hotel, and lake. The pedestrian bridge connects tenuously at park level.
Transect studies of the pedestrian bridge and its islands created interesting opportunities for material composition. 10
At lake level the intent to collage program is more evident. Tight, cubic concrete cells, esposed to the sky, contrast vividly with the open bar, library, and seminars of the conference center’s spaces. However, there is dialogue between the various elements encouraging circu-
lation. Through sometimes imposing and other times playful forms, program is divided along a meandering path through the campus. As a visitor descends, they experience increasing amounts of intimacy. The public sculpture garden overlooking the lake yields to the private court-
yard, submerged in earth at water level. The library, punctured by light wells functioning as reading coves, is even more private. The visitor can appreciate these “stumbledupon� moments as unique to their individual experience. They create their own adventure with each visit.
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WORK SAMPLES // MODEL MAKING // PHOTOGRAPHY
The thin concrete shell gives an almost alien presence to the flat, remote site. Two distinct pieces reference both heaviness and weightlessness. One peels back to suggest occupiable space below, the other sits lofted, an enigmatic advertisement to the curious chapel in and of itself.
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Espada Chapel + Columbarium - Fall 2010 San Antonio, Texas A non-denominational chapel sited adjacent to the 18th century Mission Espada lies half buried, a thin concrete canopy hovering above, punctured by structural light wells that hang like stalagtites in the sunken reflection space below. The form intends to evoke imagery of wind, and is sited according to the prevailing summer breezes to allow for a natural ventilation and cooling. Once underground, a forest of translucent columns provide for soft illumination. Columns that puncture the floor contain nondescript cubic urns, an abstraction of typical columbarium walls found in many cemeteries throughout the region.
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WORK SAMPLES // MODEL MAKING // PHOTOGRAPHY
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Experiments in the chapel’s form were rigorously pursued, first with planar, sharp geometries. These studies were effective at space making, but ultimately did not result in any compelling scheme. With the help of a pack of Marlboro Reds and a box fan on “low” I was able to photograph smoke, which eventually led to the generation of the chapel’s final form. The final model was 3-D printed and set into a block of cherry wood. Columns are represented with 1/4’’ x 1/4’’ plexiglass rods.
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WORK SAMPLES // MODEL MAKING // PHOTOGRAPHY
Austin Swim Center - Spring 2011 Austin, Texas Located just south of downtown on the shore of Lake Austin, this proposal for a new city swim center is forced to respond to a variety of constraints imposed by a tricky site. The program is divided into two buildings connected by a shared plaza which engages an existing hike-and-bike trail that is widely used by the city’s active populus. A leisure pool extends from within the lower structure, its roof becoming a generous plaza at street grade. A competition arena sits next door, with a low slung, faceted roof offering copious indirect lighting inside without obstructing its neighbors’ views of the water.
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As the dual-building scheme emerged in design, the form of the competition pool canopy changed dramatically. The studio required the completion of a 1/2’’ = 1’-0’’ sectional bay model (top, right) demonstrating the structural strategy employed over the long span of the competition pool. An inverted truss superstructure reconciled the site’s grade change with the desire for a low street profile, while also not compromising spectators’ views of the water.
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Spectator seating is available just off the sidewalk behind a glass curtain wall, giving passerby the chance to peek inside without interruption. Large, inverted trusses correspond to viewers’ sight lines and allow for maximum light exposure with minimal glare and heat gain. light exposure with minimal glare and heat gain.
WORK SAMPLES // MODEL MAKING // PHOTOGRAPHY
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Sectionally, the strategy of marrying structure with views and exposure to light is clear. The building envelope stops short, offering an open, public connection to the existing hike and bike trail. The trail traffic and street traffic will be within eyesight of each other with the exception of during times of competition. In plan the two buildings exhibit their unique character. Always present is the connection to the shared plaza of the competition pool, views to the outdoors, and relationship to the water.
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WORK SAMPLES // MODEL MAKING // PHOTOGRAPHY
The southern, lakeside elevation (above) shows the constrasting profiles of the streetgrade leisure pool and its neighboring faceted, competition arena. The structural diagram (right) shows an early iteration of how the competition pool’s trusses meet its canopy.
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Exploring composition in model was strongly emphasized throughout this studio, and before long I found myself hoarding dozens of whimsical formal study models. The process was relentless, but rewarding. Each model was compelling in its own way, and the method of extracting what made each design potent became second nature. With my pile of models came a tool-kit that I drew from during the rest of my semester. When it came time to implement the final scheme I had a set of components that made sense and were familiar to me. The process of creating, and then learning something new from what I had just created, is what I consider to be one of the most rewarding aspects of design.
WORK SAMPLES // MODEL MAKING // PHOTOGRAPHY for Andersson Wise Architects Austin, TX
Bunny Run Residence: Site Model Scale: 1/32” = 1’ Dimensions: 40” x 24” x 32” Materials: Foam core, bass wood Iteration 1: May/June 2012 (lead role) Iteration 2: October 2012 (final detailing)
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WORK SAMPLES // MODEL MAKING // PHOTOGRAPHY
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This model served as both a presentation and iterative study model of a sloped property along Lake Austin. The program features a main residence, guest house / home office, and multi-level boat dock.
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WORK SAMPLES // MODEL MAKING // PHOTOGRAPHY
Bunny Run Residence: Guest “Tree House” Scale: 1/2” = 1’ Dimensions: 40” x 30” x 17” Materials: Foam core, bass wood, cork June 2012
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WORK SAMPLES // MODEL MAKING // PHOTOGRAPHY
The model was developed and refined over a period of four weeks as a design development tool. The building functions as a guest house to an adjacent main residence situated on a sloped site along Lake Austin. A space below contains a wine cellar and dining area that opens to the outdoors for entertaining.
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WORK SAMPLES // MODEL MAKING // PHOTOGRAPHY
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WORK SAMPLES // MODEL MAKING // PHOTOGRAPHY Canon EOS 450D
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Ronchamp, France
WORK SAMPLES // MODEL MAKING // PHOTOGRAPHY
La Tourette Lyon, France
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San Antonio, Texas
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WORK SAMPLES // MODEL MAKING // PHOTOGRAPHY
Siena, Italy
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Pitigliano, Italy
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WORK SAMPLES // MODEL MAKING // PHOTOGRAPHY
SANAA
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Mona
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WORK SAMPLES // MODEL MAKING // PHOTOGRAPHY
Marfa, Texas Ouro Preto, Brazil
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Austin, Texas The Vatican, Rome
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Professional Residency Internship Andersson Wise Architects // Austin, TX May - December 2012
Presentation Preparation Advised content selection, directed presentation layout Lecture at 2012 TSA Convention October 2012
Significant Software Experience Revit 2012 / 2013 Vectorworks 2008 Photoshop CS3 / CS5 MS Office Suite
Photography Photography assistance / stand-in St. Stephen’s Episcopal School Dormitory & Faculty Residence Photographer: Andrew Pogue Photography August 2012
Construction Administration Field Work Topfer Theater at ZACH / Austin, Texas St. Stephen’s Episcopal School Dining Hall / Austin, TX Maebius residence / Austin, Texas PR / ASI / CD Set Assistance / Presentation Drawings Topfer Theater at ZACH / Austin, TX St. Stephen’s Episcopal School Dining Hall / Austin, TX Bunny Run Residence / Austin, TX Cowan Residence / Carmel, CA Office Management / Project Management Coordinated purchase of four desktop computers Coordinated purchase of office external hard drive Coordinated and directed UT AIAS tour of AWA offices Coordinated submission of set for permitting at city Continuing Education Seminars Kalwall Corporation Daylighting and Sustainable Design Program Number : KAL010 Education Credits: 1 AIA/CES Continuing Education Hour Health / Safety / Welfare / Sustainable Design Date of Program Completion: October 11, 2012 ABET, Inc. Rain Screen Principle Education Credits: 1 AIA/CES Continuing Education Hour Health / Safety / Welfare Date of Program Completion: July 26, 2012 Analog Modeling Experience Bunny Run Project: Guest “Tree House” Scale: 1/2” = 1’ Dimensions: 40” x 30” x 17” Materials: Foam core, bass wood, cork June 2012 Bunny Run Project: Site Model Scale: 1/32” = 1’ Dimensions: 40” x 24” x 32” Materials: Foam core, bass wood Iteration 1: May/June 2012 (lead role) Iteration 2: October 2012 (final detailing) FAIA Submission Portfolio Preparation Content selection, printing / shipping coordination Arthur Andersson - FAIA submission portfolio Primary Consultant: CYMK Group August 2012
PR / Marketing Direction / Publishing Coordination Press (magazines) “Przychylnie Naturalnie” Swiat Rezydencji Wnetrz & Ogrodow (Poland) Featured project: Stone Creek Camp December 2012 “The Topfer Theatre at ZACH” Tribeza Featured Project: ZACH Theatre October 2012 Design Bureau (unreleased) Featured Projects: Cabin on Flathead Lake, Stone Creek Camp, Temple Ranch Submitted: July 2012 “Set the Scene” Garden Design Magazine Featured project: Collector’s House June 2012 Press (books) Hotels (working title, unreleased) Hi-Design International Publishing Featured Project: Block 21 + W Austin Hotel Submitted: November 2012 The Language of Hypermodern Architecture (unreleased) Publisher: Editions Parentheses Featured project: Stone Creek Camp Submitted: September 2012 HIDEOUTS (unreleased) Publisher: Gestalten Featured projects: Tower House, Flathead Lake Cabin Submitted: August 2012 The Stone Book (unreleased) Publisher: LOFT Featured project: Stone Creek Camp Submitted: June 2012 Online Brand Management Facebook content selection / brand management Facebook.com/anderssonwise May-December 2012
W Austin Hotel + Residences Andersson Wise Architects // Austin, TX
MARCH 2013 AUSTIN, TEXAS // USA